Pan de Libertad: an innovative proposal in the Female Detention Center of Obrajes

La Paz,
September 25, 2014

CAF, the Semilla de Vida (SEVIDA) (Seed of Life) NGO, and the
Banco Mercantil Santa Cruz signed a technical cooperation agreement
to promote the Pan de Libertad (Bread of Liberty) initiative, which
seeks to create a social and productive reinsertion model by
investing the time of the imprisoned population.

CAF -development bank of Latin America- the Semilla de Vida
(SEVIDA) (Seed of Liberty) NGO, and the Banco Mercantil Santa Cruz,
signed a technical cooperation agreement to promote the Seed of
Life initiative, seeking to create a social and productive
reinsertion model by investing the time of the imprisoned
population and the improvement of the life conditions in the
Obrajes Female Detention Center (COFO, for its acronym in Spanish)
in La Paz.

Bread of Liberty seeks to contribute with specific actions to
the prison crisis is Latin America, considerably exacerbated in the
past decades and characterized, in particular, by high levels of
violence, violation of human rights, overcrowding, and
reoccurrence.

The lack of an effective implementation of rehabilitation
programs and absence of activities, and the lack of activities
focused on the emotional and human rescue of individuals has been
an additional problem of the prison crisis. For this reason,
CAF participates with a model that combines the economic and human
needs through the development of bakeries, patisseries, and
knitting,in parallel to the psychological support and sexual and
reproductive health services for the women in the center.

The initiative has the support of the Fundacion Nuevo Norte with
respect to the knitting component, due to its trajectory in the
productive sector, its innovative and entrepreneurial vision, and
its commitment with small and medium-sized artisans in La Paz. The
alliance will allow the women to obtain quality products that may
be placed in the national and international artisan market, and
improve their life conditions and those of their families.

Ana Mercedes Botero, Director of CAF´s Social Innovation
Initiative, highlighted that "the innovation of the model lies in
the fact that it creates a productive labor force which in
principle is not productive given its imprisoned condition, and in
the potential of being a model for other penitentiary centers in
Latin America".

Emilio Uquillas, CAF´s Director Representative in Bolivia,
pointed out that "the program may be used in other prisons in the
country through diverse productive activities that may be adopted
as part of the public policies regarding the social reinsertion of
the imprisoned population. Uquillas finalized by saying that "It is
an innovative proposal with challenging social policies and
specific solutions".

At the same time, Hernan Gonzales, Social Responsibility Manager
at Banco Mercantil Santa Cruz, commented that the project becomes
an entrepreneurial instrument to work to benefit a vulnerable
population, adding that "it is an inter-institutional initiative
that enables investing in human beings, restoring their rights and
providing better life conditions".

Rosario Alarcon, Director of the Fundacion Semilla de Vida
SEVIDA, stated the importance of revaluating the social and
economic conditions of women who are deprived of liberty. She
pointed out that "The personal histories of each woman are
particular, and the criminal act does not represent the whole being
of a woman".